Search form

Woods starts late; Rory, Phil off early at British Open

East Lothian, Scotland (Sports Network) - Three-time British Open champion Tiger Woods will have his left elbow tested this week at Muirfield Golf Club as he starts later on Thursday and early on Friday.

Woods, who hasn't won a major championship since the 2008 U.S. Open, will play alongside fellow major champions Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen for the first two rounds. The three will start at 9:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, then come back Friday morning at 4:44 a.m. Woods, who first hurt his elbow at the Players Championship, hasn't played since the U.S. Open at Merion.

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy and No. 5 Phil Mickelson are paired together at the end of a six-group stretch that will be among the feature groups early Thursday and late Friday.

McIlroy and Mickelson, the latter coming off his first official European Tour win at the Scottish Open, will play alongside Japanese sensation Hideki Matsuyama, who was the Asian Amateur champion in 2010 and 2011, and has two Japan Tour wins in eight starts this year. They start opposite Woods at 4:44 a.m. Thursday and 9:45 a.m. Friday.

The five groups leading up to that trio start at 3:44 a.m. Thursday with the big-hitting threesome of Bubba Watson, Nicolas Colsaerts and Dustin Johnson. After an open tee time, three Hall-of-Famers will start at 4:00 a.m. -- reigning Senior British Open champ Fred Couples, five-time Open winner Tom Watson and three-time titlist Nick Faldo, who won two of his claret jugs at Muirfield.

Defending champion Ernie Els, who also won in 2002 the last time Muirfield hosted the Open Championship, follows with U.S. Open champ Justin Rose and Brandt Snedeker. Former PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley headlines the next group, as he is paired with fellow American Billy Horschel and Ian Poulter.

The final threesome before McIlroy and Mickelson's group includes a trio looking for their first major championship title -- Nick Watney, Richard Sterne and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.

There is a similar lead into Woods' group with four strong threesomes starting in front of the world No. 1. At 9:01 a.m. Thursday, former Masters winner Charl Schwartzel will start alongside Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia.

Reigning Masters champion Adam Scott is in the next group with Matt Kuchar and Luke Donald, a grouping of three of the top nine players in the world. Scott was in line to win the claret jug last year, but bogeyed the final four holes to lose by one to Els.

Americans Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler will play the opening two rounds with Matteo Manassero in the next group. The threesome in front of Woods' group includes Peter Hanson, Hiroyuki Fujita and Bill Haas. Former U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson follows Woods and is grouped with Branden Grace and Jamie Donaldson.

Jordan Spieth, who won the John Deere Classic to earn the last spot in the field, starts at 7:50 a.m. Thursday and will play with Russell Henley and amateur Matthew Fitzpatrick.

The last time the British Open was played at Muirfield was 2002. Els won the title that year in a playoff over Steve Elkington, Thomas Levet and Stuart Appleby, none of whom qualified to play this week.

Play gets underway at 1:32 a.m. ET Thursday, when Peter Senior hits the first tee shot. He is paired with Scotland's Lloyd Saltman and England's Oliver Fisher. The final threesome in the opening round to hit the course at 11:13 a.m. is Stephen Dartnall, Darryn Lloyd and Daisuke Maruyama.

College Football For the moment college football has forgotten about college football in a mad dash forward to appease a small group of the viewing public and more importantly to make television advertisers happy....

College Football, Fantasy As we turn our calendars over to August, the college fantasy football season is kicking into high gear. Are you prepared? Athlon has teamed up with college fantasy veterans...

College Football, Overtime Michigan State is always among the elite in college football and this year shouldn't be any different. Adam Schultz created an awesome hype video for the Spartans and if it's any...

College Football, Overtime Some people dread the weight room. Tennessee football players can't wait to go. The Volunteers made their "Night Lift" look like the 40/40 Club, completely with a DJ and neon...

College Football The Jordan Stevenson sweepstakes ended on Thursday when the former South Oak Cliff (Texas) High School running back was academically cleared to enroll at Nebraska. The recruiting win for...

College Football, Overtime Who says fans of rival teams can't make it work? Ohio State and Michigan are now bonded for life in some sort. Stephanie and Mike Stout took their wedding photos in the famous tunnel...

College Football, News The one-game suspension of four potential starters for Ohio State has slightly altered the outlook for the opener against Virginia Tech. The Buckeyes won’t need any reminder about how...

College Football Heading into the 2014 season, speculation about what life after AJ McCarron would bring for Alabama lingered around Tuscaloosa and the SEC like early-morning humidity in the South. While All-...

College Football With a 6-7 record last season, the Miami Hurricanes have more than a few things to work on during fall camp in August. Here is a look at five of the biggest and how Al Golden's team can...

College Football There have been 78 Heisman Trophies given out to 77 different players and only three times has the award gone to an ACC representative. On each of those occasions, a Florida State quarterback was...

NFL, News NFL training camps are opening up all across the nation, signaling the official return of pro football. Athlon Sports is going division by division, asking and (trying to) answering the biggest...

NFL, News The Pittsburgh Steelers are an enigma entering the 2015 NFL season. They would appear to be a team on the rise after an 11-5 regular season record and winning the toughest division in the league....

College Football Ohio State announced today that four key players would miss the Sept. 7 season opener against Virginia Tech. While it’s a big enough news story in and of itself, especially since one of the...

College Football On Thursday the Tennessee Volunteers landed running back Carlin Fils-Aime in a big head-to-head recruiting battle that included North Carolina, Miami, Auburn, and Georgia down the stretch. The...

College Football, News Ohio State will begin its national title defense without a couple of key players. According to a release from the school, defensive end Joey Bosa and receivers Corey Smith, Dontre Wilson and Jalin...

College Football, Overtime Ohio State's band is hot water following a report of a songbook making fun of Holocaust victims. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, a book by the famous band includes a...

College Football Arizona State is now part of the adidas family. adidas is now the official partner of the Pac-12 and the Sun Devils are the beneficiaries of some pretty sweet new uniforms. Their partnership...